Mama Diaries

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Caterpillar War

Do you remember the cabbage my son brought home from school?  The one he was supposed to take care of, so it could be entered in a contest for the best cabbage?  Well, it's still alive.  Barely.  It's grown quite  bit larger, but it's a sorry sight with all the holes in it.

I took a look at the cabbage yesterday, to see if I could ascertain what the problem might be.  I didn't see any aphids flying around it, so I ruled out insects.  When I looked at the underside of one of the leaves, I found the culprit.  Or culprits. Tiny green caterpillars!  They were munching holes in those tasty green leaves.

"Dude," I called to my son.  "You have a little problem with your cabbage."

He came over.  "What?"

I showed him the cabbage moth caterpillars.

He frowned.  "This calls for war!"

He grabbed the garden hose and turned on the water to full jet spray.  He blasted the leaves with the water.  "Did I get them?"

I looked. "No. There are a few left.  And the ones that fell off, are still in the dirt."

That made him even madder.  He sprayed the heck out the dirt and the leaves, until it looked like the poor cabbage was going to drown.  "Did I get them now?"

I did a careful inspection, and could find no remaining caterpillars in the dirt or on the leaves.  "All clear," I said.

Bubba did a victory dance.  "I won!"

I looked at the kid.  "Are you sure about that?  Because I think you got even wetter than the caterpillars!"

35 comments:

  1. And I'm sure they will be back.
    We tried a garden once. Those green caterpillars chewed everything.
    See you next week, Sherry!

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  2. I dislike caterpillers, but we had a truce - if they were on my plants, they were forfeit. If they stayed off, I let them be. Not fond of any creepy crawlies.

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  3. poor catterpilars... killed during lunch :(

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  4. Those are some healthy caterpillars with all the green stuff they eat!

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  5. Maybe he should forget about the cabbage and raise caterpillars (-:

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  6. Sounds like he won to me! War means getting down in the dirt and battling with all your might.

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  7. Poor little wet caterpillars, although they should know better than eating his cabbage. :)

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    Replies
    1. Mama Cabbage Moth did a bad thing laying her eggs there!

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  8. Cabbage? I don't recall. I still have my mind on the onion with snakes growing out of it. Soapy water sometimes keeps away bugs. You have to be extra thorough after washing the veggies before you eat them, but it doesn't sound as if you're going to eat this cabbage.

    Love,
    Janie

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  9. This is why I don't have a garden. I did the same thing with my corn once, it was full of ants. All it did was make them mad.

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  10. *LOL* I still bet he saw it as a victory. :)

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  11. At least he won! I feel a big sorry for the caterpillars though. They were just enjoying his work!

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  12. LOL! Those silly caterpillars never stood a chance...

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  13. You obviously have one very determined son.

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  14. So funny. Guess he understands you can't win without effort. :)

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    Replies
    1. It took a lot of effort with these caterpillars!

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  16. I like the way Bubba sprayed water on the caterpillars and got wetter than them :)

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